Compared to what I have seen of American sexploitation film around the same time, Black Emanuelle shares one trait with film in the genre from other European countries: sensuality and eroticism. American sexploitation film, to me, felt like it was there to titillate and provoke. The cinematography does more to showcase the human form as opposed to some American sexploitation film that feels very “here is a human body”.
While Black Emanuelle is around to take pleasure in sex and the human body, the film, intentionally or not, tackles subjects such as sex, gender, race, and class in an intriguing way amidst all the lasciviousness. As Emanuelle and her white companions travel Africa the differences between her and the others become more apparent. She, even in a decidedly more “exotic” locale, is exotified by her white colleagues, both male and female. Notably, the only black traveling companion she has does not eroticize her the way the others do and instead is able to recognize her behavior as being one that purposefully aligns herself with whiteness, in contrast to himself. The sexuality that Emanuelle exudes is one that she feels fully in control of, but being sexually open is not the same thing as being sexually free, as she is judged for her behavior when it is not convenient for the relationships of those around her. This control is so important to her that she (and the film) condemns the idea of sex under the influence of drugs or alcohol. According to Emanuelle, she won’t even pursue pleasure during heightened states of emotion as that would still be her not having control over sex.
Compared to what I have seen of American sexploitation film around the same time, Black Emanuelle shares one trait with film in the genre from other European countries: sensuality and eroticism. American sexploitation film, to me, felt like it was there to titillate and provoke. The cinematography does more to showcase the human form as opposed to some American sexploitation film that feels very “here is a human body”.
While Black Emanuelle is around to take pleasure in sex and the human body, the film, intentionally or not, tackles subjects such as sex, gender, race, and class in an intriguing way amidst all the lasciviousness. As Emanuelle and her white companions travel Africa the differences between her and the others become more apparent. She, even in a decidedly more “exotic” locale, is exotified by her white colleagues, both male and female. Notably, the only black traveling companion she has does not eroticize her the way the others do and instead is able to recognize her behavior as being one that purposefully aligns herself with whiteness, in contrast to himself. The sexuality that Emanuelle exudes is one that she feels fully in control of, but being sexually open is not the same thing as being sexually free, as she is judged for her behavior when it is not convenient for the relationships of those around her. This control is so important to her that she (and the film) condemns the idea of sex under the influence of drugs or alcohol. According to Emanuelle, she won’t even pursue pleasure during heightened states of emotion as that would still be her not having control over sex.
